In a tavern in Prudence City, Mark and Hardy were sitting in a corner, hiding themselves in

the shadows and watching every drinker who came to the place. They are waiting for someone,

a contact for the underground union.

They've been here half a day, ever since Vincent left for the Black Crystal Tower, and they've

been making their own decisions about what to do. Their purpose was to find Littlefinger

Phelps again and take him away from the Guild. While the Guild has decided to take action

against Vincent, a mage from the surface, having Halflings working undercover inside gives

them a better idea of what's going on with the enemy. But Hardy has figured out in the last

few days that Littlefinger is in more danger than the Mage.

Mark looked bored at the glass in front of him. The ale had lost its froth from too much age.

He looked at the bloody dwarves in front of Hardy and sneezed when he caught a strange

smell of the ale.

"Good health, little Mark." Hardy looked at the dwarf. "Or you can go back to the inn and rest.

It's bad if you catch a cold."

"No, nothing is wrong with me, just a little bit of wine in front of you." Mark took out a

handkerchief and wiped his nose hard. He frowned at the Burgundy liquor. "Hardy, what is

your glass of wine made of, and why does it taste so strange?"

"Oh, it's fermented with honey," said Mark.

"Hardy, don't lie to me. Honey tastes sweet. How can it be fishy?"

"The smell, you mean. The name of the wine is Bloody Dwarf. Naturally, the blood of the

dwarves is mixed with fermented honey to make this wine." When Hardy saw Mark's gag look,

he said, "Don't worry, that's Orc winemaking. They don't do that anymore. This wine is made

with special spices, a lot of underground fungi and twice fermented. It just smells the same

now."

Mark looks at Hardy. "How do you know so much about brewing this stuff?"

The soldier stared at the dwarf for a moment, sighed gently, and slowly said, "In fact, my

greatest wish is to open a small tavern, brew and drink by myself, and sell the undrinkable

wine to customers, how happy it will be."

The dwarf did not realize what he was saying, but he froze for a moment and then burst into

laughter. He covered his mouth with his sleeve to suppress his laughter, but he stifled his

tears.

"You drink yourself, Hardy, before you sell the rest. Is it possible, then, that you have any

liquor in your pub?"

'Why not? A blushing Hardy explains: "I like to taste wine and not drink in large quantities.

Besides, I've got a plan."

'What plan? Tell me.' Mark perked up and sat a little closer in the direction of the soldier,

listening.

"I'll make wine and manage the counter, and I'll be in the lobby watching the people come

and go. If the guest wants to compete, I will take care of him. As for you, Mark, I'll leave the

cleaning up in the pub to you. Of course, instead of doing the dirty work, you could invent a

tool that washes the dishes yourself. Plus, if you have a beautiful sister coming, you can

welcome them. I'm sure you'll be very popular, you'll make a lot of money, and you'll never

have to worry about research funding."

"Why do I have to wait on the sisters? Won't you get a waitress to wait on them?" Mark did

not understand Hardy's joke and said solemnly, "So who's the owner's wife?"

"The landlady is Li, of course..." Hardy cut the sentence short. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing." Mark tilted his head and thought, "By the way, what are you going to ask Vincent

to do?"

"Cooking!"

The dwarf widened his eyes, stared at the soldier with two round shining water balloons, and

stammered a little, "Do... Cooking? Vincent…… You let a mage be a cook? '

"Yeah, I'm pretty smart. Think of it this way, Mark... ' Hardy leaned close to the dwarf's ear.

"You know, there might be people of all races and tastes, but there's a mage. Don't you notice

how good Vincent cooks for all of us? That's because he uses magic! He makes all the meals

taste good somehow. How else can he take care of both our tongues?"

Seeing Mark's surprise, Hardy put on a smug look and said, "I knew you'd love this idea. You

know, Vincent is a guy who can conjure up some simple tricks with no effort. Remember, last

time he turned rocks into volcanic rocks and saved both our lives. When the time comes, let

him create a dish, whether it is delicious or not, if he uses a little magic, it will become delicious,

won't it?"

'And... Can you still do that? '

'Of course, I've got a better idea. Mark, honestly, can you tell that the dark Elf is interested in

our mage?" Speaking of the Dark Elf, Hardy lowered his voice, raised his eyebrows twice, and

added a sinister smile.

"What interest?"

"Oh, nothing. You're too young to understand." Hardy saw that Mark was not interested in

such "juicy" information, and had also discovered the contact person, and did not go further.

But he did whisper, "That girl is pretty much anything but white hair and white skin. She's a

little too white. I wonder if Vincent will feel dazzling if she goes out into the sun..."

By this time, the wizard had climbed out of the tub and had just put on his robes when he

sneezed violently. He rubbed his nose, touched his forehead with his right hand, and shook

his head in confusion: "Not sick..."

The mage sat in his room for a moment, waiting for Hardy and Mark. But the two companions

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had not returned until the time reported above the tower pointed to night. Bored, he

descended the stairs and saw Stone-legged Boss on the floor, foaming at the mouth and

twitching his limbs, unconscious.

Vincent rushed to the wine-keeper's side and touched his breath. "Fortunately, he is not

dead." Healing the sick was not his forte, and the mage stood up, ready to use the "floating

dish" spell to carry the stone legs to the temple. Though he was only a dwarf, the Drow would

not heal foreigners, but in his position as an advisor mage to the First House, they would have

to take care of him.

Before he could pull out the scroll of the spell, his ever-discerning eyes leaped and he saw a

humanoid monster standing before him.

Its bluish-purple skin was covered with slime, making its skin appear smooth and shiny, as if

it had been coated with thick wax. On his lower jaw grew a number of finger-sized tentacles,

each twisting in the air as if it were conscious and pointing toward Vincent. These tentacles,

together with their huge blue eyes, make his whole head look like a giant squid.

He stretched out long, thin fingers, stroked his tentacles, and flung the mucus off them to the

floor in a bared voice.

Vincent was very surprised. Since he had the insight, he had never been sneaked up on. The

Eye of Insight always finds something suspicious in the first place, and no matter how it

changes its body, whether it is invisible or prowls like an assassin, it cannot escape its

observation. Originally, there was only one way to avoid detection, and that was with

teleportation spells. But the glow of all spells can still be found, and you won't feel it at all.

"How do you do it? How did I..." Vincent suddenly closes his mouth. If he continued to ask,

he would reveal the power of his penetrating eye. And would anyone ever tell anyone the

answer to a technical question like this?

"Did you ask me how I avoided your detection?" A voice rang out in Vincent's head, as if

echoing from the depths of a mage's skull.

The monster pointed at his own head, and then at Vincent's: "I just made your mind think I

didn't exist. However, you are a strong man for being able to detect me at the last moment."

"Who you are."

"Is it necessary to ask that question?" His tentacles twitched quickly, clapping each other with

a "pop" sound. "I think I found something delicious!"

"What do you want to do..." Before Vincent could finish this sentence, a sudden and huge

stinging pain suddenly penetrated deep into his brain. The feeling was as if someone had

released a freeze in the innermost part of his head. The whole head was suddenly frozen, and

the protruding ice blade penetrated every place of the head shell. Before Vincent's eyes,

countless shining stars appeared. They were spinning and glowing red.

Unable to stand steadily, the master stepped back for several steps, and finally reached the

bar behind him with his hand, barely able to support himself.

"Not bad. You'll survive the shock, just as I expected." Once the voice of the monster

thundered inside the mage's head, and this time the language of the mind was like incessant

super thundering, mixed with the roar of the rain and the wind, deafening.

"You fellow! Vincent picks up the staff of Power, flicking his fingers as his spell is about to be

cast.

"This is the kind of brain that tastes good, and I mean really good." The monster leaned

forward and suddenly his eyes glowed blue. Then he disappeared. All his tentacles were

tensed in the wizard's direction.

This time it was like a fireball bursting in his brain. The heat and the impact made Vincent see

nothing. His eyes became completely black. He could not hear anything. The tone of his voice

rose in his ears and finally disappeared, leaving only pain. Nothing to smell, only hot liquid

left in the nose, even the original taste of blood is gone; The only thing that did not disappear

was the touch, but only one feeling remained -- pain, and even the air that gently glided

through the skin became like a knife.

Fighting back the tearing of his trachea and lungs, Vincent gulped in fresh air. He knew that

the only way to deal with such monsters was to persist, to seize a gap, break their mental

shock, and regain the initiative.

Vincent worked hard to concentrate and first resumed the observation of the discerning eye.

Only by understanding the enemy's movements and position can there be a way to fight back.

By the looks of it, the monster is nervous now, too, with a constant stream of mucus dripping

from his head, staining the floor with a blue-purple hue. The monster's tentacles moved, and

these words rang out in Vincent's head: "You make me... I am amazed! But humans... You

can't stand the next attack!"

A white ball of light flew out from under his tentacles and headed straight for Vincent's brains.

It was a powerful mental blast that the monster had gathered, and only after the energy had

reached a certain level did it change into this glowing semi-solid form.

After launching this attack, the monster also expends a lot of power, his body convulses, and

he stumbles. At this point in time, the pressure on the mage's body was slightly relieved.

However, at this time, the light ball was only one foot away from Vincent's forehead.

"Die! Human!" The monster shook his tentacles with excitement. Victory was in hand.